A Diabolical Plan in Action
by do i need a pen name
Summary: One of the best ways to be sly and cunning is to do the exact opposite of what everyone expects of you. No one knows this better than Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. They are a pair with a plan and it is a plan that is diabolical to the very core. If only they didn't keep having all of these setbacks…
1. Prologue: A Doubt is Voiced

A/N—Honestly, the last thing I should be doing right now is posting another story. But this just hit me the other day when I should have been writing an essay and I decided to go with it—yay for distractions from important things like school! This story is a sequel to my oneshot A Diabolical Plan, and will follow setbacks in said plan that Scorpius and Al will face through each year at Hogwarts. Right now, I'm seeing 7 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue. Enjoy!

**A Diabolical Plan in Action**

**Prologue: A Doubt is Voiced**

Whispers followed two of the new Slytherin First Years wherever they went, but that was to be expected. In fact, they each _had_ expected it, had prepared themselves for it as much as they possibly could before leaving the safety of home for Hogwarts. They had always known this was how things were going to turn out. They just hadn't anticipated the exact reasoning behind all of the whispers.

They had both expected it because of who their families were, both now and in the past. One was the son of a former Death Eater, a truly reformed dark wizard, not that many believed he actually _had_ reformed. The other was the son of the man who had defeated the greatest Dark Wizard of, quite possibly, all time; the savior of the Wizarding World.

Inhabitants of their society thought they knew how the two boys would turn out. They would both be miniature versions of their fathers: one would be dark to his very core, while the other would inherit an heroic legacy.

The pair would be natural enemies; a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, destined to hate each other for all eternity.

It would be a rivalry for the ages.

The first bump in the road came when both boys were sorted into Slytherin upon their entrance into Hogwarts.

But this was waved off easily enough. Hadn't things changed since the end of the Second War? Wasn't the stigma of the dark nature of Slytherin House practically gone, now? And wouldn't someone simply _have_ to be sly and cunning to ever hope to follow in the footsteps of the Boy-Who-Lived? Besides, perhaps being in the same House would be best for the two boys: know thy enemy and all that whatnot.

Then came that fated morning. The morning after the Sorting Ceremony. The morning when the boy who appeared to be the Wizarding World's savior in miniature declared for all in the Great Hall of Hogwarts to hear that his new best mate was the one housemate everyone had pitted him against since they were born.

And so the whispers followed them. Because it couldn't possibly be _true_, could it? No. It was impossible. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy were most definitely _not_ friends in any way, shape, or form.

And yet…

Why would they spend so much time together and not once try to (feebly, most likely, as they _were_ only first years) hex the other? Why would they do that unless they truly were friends?

It was unfathomable.

"Does this make us the most popular kids at school?"

Scorpius looked up from the Charms essay he had been busy revising. He and Albus had been silently and diligently working on their schoolwork in the library up until that point, or so Scorpius had thought. Clearly Albus' thoughts had been focused elsewhere, as Scorpius could see that the other boy's Charms essay was clearly still unwritten, as evidence by the blank parchment sitting on the table before him.

"Huh?" Scorpius responded quite succinctly.

"You and me," Albus clarified. "Everyone is always talking about us…gossiping, really. Not that I'm an expert, or anything, but doesn't that generally make people popular? You know, in normal schools? The people who everyone talks about are generally the most popular, right?"

Scorpius simply looked at Albus blankly for a moment.

"Clearly you're letting our friendship go to your head," Scorpius finally informed him.

Albus narrowed his eyes at Scorpius. "Yeah, because I _really_ love _all_ the attention."

"One of your many flaws," Scorpius agreed, though Albus was _mostly_ sure that the blonde was only joking. "It's actually why I agreed to be friends with you, you know. There's no pressure to be perfect when you're my best mate, Al."

"Thanks," Albus said dryly.

"Any time," Scorpius replied.

"But seriously," Albus continued almost immediately, and only now did Scorpius realize that there was a nervous undertone to the other boy's words. "_Does_ this make us popular?"

Scorpius lowered his quill slowly, realizing that he wouldn't get any more work done until he gave Albus a straight answer. He pondered his answer a moment more before replying.

"I've never been to a 'normal' school," Scorpius began slowly, recalling Albus' earlier words. "In fact, I'd never been to school before coming here, so the past two months are the only experience I have to go on. But I don't really think this makes us 'popular' in the terms that you're thinking of."

Albus gave a barely audible sigh of relief.

"Honestly, it's all just gossip, like you said," Scorpius continued, thoughtful. "It always seems like people—especially our age—thrive on gossip; they need it. They'll stop talking about the two of us when something more interesting comes along," Scorpius concluded confidently.

"Good," Albus said shortly, finally picking his own quill up and pulling his blank parchment closer to himself. "I've decided that going against the grain is getting me far too much notice for my liking. I didn't quite realize being so diabolical would get me—well, us—so much attention."

"Because no one has ever stared at you before, I'm sure," Scorpius said.

"I would really hate to give up on our plan, though," Albus murmured, seemingly not having heard his friend's comment.

"It was wonderfully diabolical," Scorpius agreed. "And we're clearly making such headway with it. I don't think we should give up just yet."

Albus nodded absentmindedly, lost in his thoughts once more.

The whispers would continue, that much was certain. But Albus was now determined not to let them bother him. Scorpius was right: they would pass with time.

Then again…once they did pass, he would most likely do something even more diabolical that would attract peoples' attention. That was just the way things worked out in Albus' life.

He had known this would happen when he started school, now it was just finally time for him to accept the fact that everyone was always going to be watching his every move. But he was a Slytherin now, and he would just have to use that as an excuse to use any means necessary to achieve his goal. And in this case, his goal was to shock the Wizarding World to it's very core. With Scorpius' help, of course.

Albus Potter had never liked the spotlight, but he was sure he could adapt.


	2. A Family Affair

**Chapter One**

**First Year: A Family Affair**

Albus Potter had never been one to make rash decisions. No, that was his older brother, James, the bold and daring Gryffindor. Albus liked to keep a level head about things. And it had always seemed to work in the past. Where James' rash behavior had gotten him in trouble on more than one occasion, Albus' sneakiness—brought on by his level-headed thinking, no doubt—had kept him out of just as much trouble, if not more. In fact, it was entirely possible that James had gotten the blame for things Albus had done once…or twice…or several dozen times over the years.

Yes, Albus liked the way things were. But then he had started at Hogwarts, and everything had changed in one fell swoop. But, of course, that was mostly by his own doing.

It had been a truly brilliant idea that had dropped into his head that first night at Hogwarts. And, in what could have possibly been the first spur-of-the-moment decision Albus ever made, he chose to act on his plan and had immediately approached Scorpius Malfoy, and proposed that they become best mates.

Even thinking about it now, three-and-a-half long months later, it sounded like such a business arrangement…

And Albus couldn't help but suppose that maybe that was how it had started. But that certainly wasn't how it was turning out.

In the three odd months since they had befriended each other, Albus and Scorpius quickly found that they actually had a lot in common, admittedly much better grounds for a lasting friendship than the desire to simply be completely diabolical. But there was still one fatal flaw that was keeping their plan from perfection…

"Did you know that people don't actually believe we're really friends?" Albus asked suddenly, tearing his gaze away from the landscape the train was swiftly passing through. He was currently sharing a compartment with Scorpius on the Hogwarts Express; although the eyes of Hogwarts constantly followed the pair, many were wary of the combination of the Potter boy and the Malfoy heir (even if they doubted the reasons for it), and so they had the compartment to themselves for the long ride back to London.

"Idle gossip doesn't amount to much of a setback," Scorpius replied, immediately catching on to what Albus was obviously thinking about. He lowered the book he had been reading before Albus spoke up and continued, "I'd be more concerned about how people not living in the castle with us are going to take it. And by 'concerned' I clearly mean that I can't imagine they're going to take it very well at all when they find out."

"I'm sure they've heard something about it, by now," Albus said now, thoughtful. "If anything, I bet James told my parents right away, though they never mentioned it in any of their letters."

"It'll all work out in the end, no matter what happens now," Scorpius said, sounding much more confident than he felt. "And, if something drastic does happen, we won't let it sidetrack us, will we?"

"Hardly," Albus scoffed. "We shook on this. That basically makes it a lasting and unbreakable agreement. It's like an unbreakable vow…just without the imminent threat of death looming over us if we fail."

A frown creased Scorpius' aristocratic features at Albus' words. "We never shook on this…"

"What?" Albus demanded, completely aghast. "_How_ could we have overlooked something so _important_?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes lightly, his expression vaguely amused. He stuck out a hand. "There's no time like the present."

"Quite right," Albus replied, grasping Scorpius hand firmly and giving it a shake.

"Well, that's settled then," Scorpius said decisively. "Clearly this means everything is going to work out wonderfully now."

Now it was Albus' turn to frown. "You really shouldn't have said that…"

* * *

Several hours later found Scorpius and Albus at King's Cross station, finally officially on their winter holiday.

"Best of luck, Scor," Albus said, just before the two exited the train.

"And to you, Al," Scorpius replied with the slightest incline of his head.

Once the pair had stepped onto the platform, they went their separate ways—Scorpius to the right, where his parents were standing near the entrance back into the station, and Albus to the left, where there was a large group of people—most of them with red hair. Lily was the first to notice her older brother approaching the group.

"Al!" She cried happily, tearing her hand out of her mother's firm grip and running at her brother. Albus barely had time to drop the trunk he'd been dragging and lift his arms before Lily crashed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a death grip. Clearly she had missed having at least one of her brothers at home.

"Hey Lil," Albus replied, his arms closing around his little sister. "I missed you, too."

And with that simple sentence, Lily pulled out of her brother's embrace—though her tiny hand still clutched his—and began going into a detailed description of everything that had happened in her life since she had last seen him, never mind that the pair had corresponded quite frequently over the semester. Albus was happy for the distraction from his thoughts, though, and of course he hadn't yet grown up quite as much as James, whose face was currently quite red after receiving a kiss on the cheek from their mother, so he was quite happy to listen to everything his little sister was saying. Even if her constant stream of chatter lasted the entire ride home.

Indeed, Lily's talking only let up once the Potter family had finally arrived home and, while Harry brought James and Albus' trunks up to their respective rooms, Ginny turned to her three children.

"Lily, dear," Ginny said in a soft voice, immediately causing Lily to stop mid-sentence, "You need to remember to breathe. You'll have plenty of time to spend with your brother before they have to return to school; don't scare them off on their first night back."

"It's too late for that!" James declared, inching his way towards the staircase their father had already disappeared up.

"Not so fast," Ginny stated, "We're leaving as soon as your father returns."

"Where are we going, mum?" Albus asked, though he thought he knew the answer. He was determined to ignore the sudden flutter of nerves in his stomach, though. This had been his idea and he wasn't going to back out of it. It was too late for that, now.

"Grandma Molly's, of course," Harry replied, reappearing at the top of the steps and walking down to rejoin his family. He focused his attention on his wife, "Floo or apparate?"

"Can we floo, please, Daddy?" Lily asked, now latching onto her father's hand. "Please?"

"I think that sounds like a perfectly good idea," Ginny agreed.

"Mummy and Daddy let me use the floo all by myself now," Lily informed both of her brothers proudly as she practically pranced ahead of the family as they all made their way into the living room, where the fireplace was located.

An hour later, Albus' nerves were no longer brief fluttering feelings. No, now there was a full-fledged churning in his stomach. It was entirely possible that he might be sick. Why had he ever thought this was a good idea?

The entire extended Weasley/Potter family had now arrived at the Burrow, with the exception of Uncle Charlie, who would not be arriving back in England until Christmas Eve, and the addition of Andromeda Tonks and Teddy Lupin, who were as good as family anyway. Even though he now went to school with nearly half of them, in the few short months since he had started at Hogwarts, Albus had somehow managed to forget just how large his family was. Why had he and Scorpius ever decided that telling their families about their new friendship over the holiday was a _good_ idea? This wasn't going to end well, of that much Albus was certain.

"Are you alright, Al?" Rose asked from her position on the couch beside Albus. "You look rather green…"

"What's this?" George, though in possession of a mutilated ear and currently sitting across the room, had somehow heard Rose speaking. "Al is turning green? What do they _do_ to you in Slytherin house?"

"I'd imagine it's the same as whatever they did to you in Gryffindor that made your hair that color," Andromeda commented from where she was seated, halfway between George and Rose and Albus.

"So you're not a fan of the red hair, then, Gran?" Teddy asked, and his grandmother merely narrowed her eyes at him when she saw that he'd changed his hair to a rather vibrant shade of Weasley red.

"But back to Slytherin," George said, shaking his head in amusement at the angelica grin Teddy was giving his grandmother. "I hear you're doing well, Al. And what's this rumor I hear about all of your new friends…or should I say your new best mate?"

"Don't tease him, George," Ginny admonished her older brother. "After all, I don't recall any of us teasing _you_ about becoming friends with Lee when you started at Hogwarts, did we?"

"Oi! What's wrong with Lee?" George demanded.

"He did have that awful habit of getting horribly off-topic with his Quidditch commentary," Percy said thoughtfully.

"You've obviously never had to suffer through Luna's commentary," Ron stated, entering the sitting room at the tail end of the conversation, followed closely by Harry. Both men—quite miraculously in the over-crowded room—found seats beside their respective wives.

"Why are we talking about Quidditch commentators?" Harry asked now, wrapping an arm around Ginny, who snuggled into her husband's side. "Is someone contemplating a career change?"

"We weren't really," Angelina told him. "It was more like Ginny trying to distract my ridiculous husband."

"But you love me _because_ I'm ridiculous, right, dear?" George asked sweetly.

"Distract him from what?" Harry asked, both he and Angelina choosing to blatantly ignore George.

"Giving Al the third degree about his new Slytherin friends."

"Oh, so you _do_ have friends?" Harry redirected his attention to his youngest son now, though there was a bit of a teasing lilt to his tone. "Funny, I don't recall you mentioning any by name in any of your letters…"

Albus forced himself to take a deep, supposedly calming, breath. This was it.

"Well…" He began slowly, "I suppose I'm friendly with all of the other first year boys," He had to take another calming breath as he suddenly realized that the attention of almost his entire extended family was now focused on him. "But my best mate is Scorpius Malfoy."

"WHAT?!"

_Meanwhile, at Malfoy Manor…_

"Would you care to explain your statement?" Lucius Malfoy asked with a deathly sense of calm after his initial incredulous outburst. "You, Scorpius Malfoy, have befriended a…_Potter_?"

"Er…yes, grandfather," Scorpius replied, hoping beyond hope that no one else could see his hands shaking.

"_Why_?"

"Now Lucius," Narcissa reprimanded her husband, a frown marring her otherwise still-pretty features. "Surely you aren't trying to imply that _you_ have a right to dictate who our only grandson may or may not befriend. _Are_ you?"

"Well-no-that's not-" Lucius, usually so composed, stumbled over his words at his wife's tone.

"That's what I thought," Narcissa continued, promptly cutting him off. "Especially seeing as, of course, his own parents' lack of outburst would suggest that they are perfectly fine with this. Unless," She turned her attention to her son and daughter-in-law now, "They are actually in a state of shock because they were previously unaware of this situation. _Did_ you know that Scorpius had befriended the younger Potter boy?"

"_No_," Draco said firmly, an unreadable expression on his face.

This _may_ have concerned Scorpius. However, he was far too distracted by his mother's response to try and decipher his father's feelings on the matter.

"Of course," Astoria said shortly, just a heartbeat behind her husband.

"You _knew_?" Lucius, Draco, and Scorpius demanded, all speaking at the same time.

"_Men_…" Narcissa muttered under her breath as all three of the Malfoy men gave each other funny looks after speaking in tandem.

"Of course I knew," Astoria stated. "Ginny Potter told me. But when Scorpius never mentioned it, I didn't want to say anything to any of you because clearly he wanted to tell us about his new friend in his own time."

"Are you saying that Ginny Potter's son told her about being friends with Scorp," Draco began, "But _our_ son refused to tell us until now?"

"Is that what I said?" Astoria questioned. "Of course not. It was Ginny's older son who wrote home about it back in September. Albus hasn't mentioned a word of it, yet, as far as I know."

"How do _you_ know Mrs. Potter?" Scorpius asked his mother.

"We work together, dear," Astoria said. She continued with a teasing smile, "I'm surprised you didn't know that; she's responsible for the only section of the _Prophet_ that you read, after all."

"I have a better question," Draco cut in, "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner, Scorp?"

"Er…well…I thought it would upset you…" Scorpius hesitated before rushing on, "You aren't upset, are you?"

"Of course not," Astoria replied promptly. "I'm sure Albus is just as lovely as his mum."

Scorpius had never been overly concerned about her reaction, though.

"Dad?"

"I'm undecided," Draco replied, his expression still unreadable. Scorpius tried not to let his disappoint show at this response.

"Well _I_ am not," Lucius said decisively. "You have my blessing, Scorpius. One can never begin making political connections too soon, after all. And, though I'm loath to admit it, a Potter is really as good as it gets these days."

"Ignore your grandfather," Narcissa advised her grandson. "You be friends with whomever you like."

"Well," Draco spoke before anyone else could say anything, standing up as he did so. "We came straight here from picking Scorpius up from the train, so we should probably be getting home now. Thank you for tea, mother. It was lovely, as usual."

After a quick round of goodbyes and the promise of at least one family dinner before Christmas, the three younger Malfoys flood back to their London home. Scorpius had barely stepped out of the fireplace, however, when he found himself the recipient of a bone-crushing hug, courtesy of his father.

"Just so we're clear," Draco said, "I don't care who you're friends with as long as you're happy." He paused briefly. Then, "And, for the record, if your choice in friends upsets your grandfather, then it's a friendship I'll definitely support."

Scorpius smiled at this and returned his father's hug.

"Good. Because there's something else you should know…"

_Back at the Burrow…_

Ron's outburst set off a tidal wave of noise in the Burrow's sitting room as everyone attempted to speak at once. And Albus Potter sat in the middle of it all, wondering why, in the name of Merlin, he had ever decided that coming home for the holidays to tell his entire family about his new friend was a good idea. He let out a heavy sigh—inaudible due to the noise level—when he saw that the shouting had attracted his Grandma Molly, who had been putting the finishing touches on supper. This was a certified disaster.

Honestly, though, he had been expecting this. This was the Weasley family, after all.

Albus stopped mid-thought, however, when he saw that not everyone was shouting over each other in an attempt to be heard. Out of everyone in the room, his parents alone did not appear to feel the need to vocally express their opinion of Al's new friend. This was unexpected…

When Harry saw where Albus' attention was now focused, he gave his son an encouraging nod and Albus steeled his nerves once more. He knew what would happen next, what always seemed to happen when arguments at family gatherings inevitably got out of hand.

Head Auror Potter raised his wand and shot off a shower of red sparks.

"I believe Al has something more he'd like to say to all of us," Harry stated calmly.

And of course everyone's attention turned back to Albus once more.

"I know most of you have never liked the Malfoys," Albus began slowly,

"I'll say," Ron muttered under his breath.

Albus had to do his very best not to smile when Hermione elbowed her husband sharply in the ribs, causing Ron to wince in pain. Instead, he continued, "And I'm not asking you to. I just want you to know that Scorpius isn't his dad or his grandfather. He's not on the brink of being evil incarnate. He's just another eleven-year-old Slytherin, like me. And we get along really well, and I don't plan on not being friends with him anytime soon, even if it is a bit upsetting that my family doesn't seem to approve of him based solely on the actions of his family members more than two decades ago."

The silence in the room was thick. If Albus had been one for analogies, he'd say it was so thick a person could cut it with a knife, if they so desired. However, before his nerves drove him to that point, the silence was finally broken.

"Well, I don't really care," Lily spoke up. "I don't really understand what the big deal is with Al's new friends. But…if it is a big problem, he could always be friends with the nice boy I met on the platform earlier." She focused her attention solely on her brother now. "His name is Darren and he's in your year in Gryffindor. Dad used to play Quidditch with his mum and dad, and his older sister is Vicky's best friend."

"Darren Wood?" Rose questioned, recognizing the name as belonging to one of her housemates. "He's so obsessed with Quidditch, I'd say Al is better off with Malfoy. Which I was going to say anyway, of course, as it was my idea that they be friends in the first place."

"You did what?" Ron demanded of his daughter.

"On the train ride to Hogwarts," Rose clarified. "How else was I going to be able to keep track of Malfoy's academic progress so that I could be sure to beat him in every subject?"

Several people in the room chuckled at this. Ron let out a relieved sigh.

"As long as one of you has your priorities right," He said cheerfully enough, which was a sudden-but expected when considering this new information-turnaround from his previous outburst, "As long as it isn't my kid befriending a Malfoy."

Hermione elbowed her husband once more. "Ignore your uncle," She advised Albus. "I think it's wonderful that you aren't letting other people prejudices get in the way of your friendships. And I'm proud of you for befriending Scorpius and sticking by him, even though you knew _certain_ members of your family might react badly."

"We're proud of you, too, dear," Ginny told her son. "Although, I suppose we've had more time to get used to the idea, as your brother saw fit to write home immediately when he found out that you and Scorpius were friends."

"Of course," Harry continued for his wife, "We were rather confused when you never mentioned him in any of your letters to us."

"Or me!" Lily interrupted.

"But it's nice to have been able to hear it from you in person," Harry finished. "I'm glad you've found a good friend in Scorpius. And it's like Hermione said: good on you for not being held back by old prejudices and grudges."

Surprisingly—or not, considering they were mostly following Al's parents' lead—the rest of the family proceeded to voice their general support as well. Of course none of them were ever going to completely like Draco Malfoy, and there was no chance they'd ever even consider being overly friendly towards Lucius. But they weren't _too_ stubborn to admit that Draco Malfoy had changed since his school days, and obviously it was Scorpius whom Al was now friends with. And Scorpius Malfoy was not his father.

"There is one other thing," Albus began tentatively once everyone had finished speaking once more, his gaze remaining fixed on his father. "Er…Scorp and I have already talked about it, and we've decided that we're each going to spend at least a week with each other's family this summer. So you're all going to get to meet him in just a few months. It'll be great."

**a/n-I apologize profusely for the incredibly long delay in getting this chapter to you. I guess that all I can really say is that I had some unexpected setbacks following the posting of this story. When I posted it, I was in the middle of studying for finals and didn't have time to write. Then I had time, but couldn't find inspiration. Then, sadly and slightly embarrassingly, I forgot about this story entirely. And then I remembered and started working on it and, well, as would only happen to me, I lost my computer. Literally. It was just gone. But now everything is better and this chapter is finally done, and I _really_ hope the next chapter doesn't give me nearly as much trouble. And speaking of the next chapter, a bit of a teaser, it'll be 'Second Year: A New Player Enter the Scene'**


	3. A New Player Enters the Scene

**a/n—I admit it: I forgot again. I'm sorry. Hopefully this ridiculously long chapter (but seriously, it's more than double the length of the first two combined) makes up for it. The next chapter will be up…erm…when it is. It'll be 'Third Year: A Flaw in the Plan' maybe…probably…I might change it, actually. I haven't decided for sure yet. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter Two**

**Second Year: A New Player Enters the Scene**

Scorpius and Al were content with their friendship. That is not to say, of course, that they had ever _not_ been content with it—minus those awkward first few days of knowing each other back in first year.

But now they were second years. They had a year of friendship under their belts. They actually knew each other now. And, while they were both on friendly terms with a variety of other people, they were happy with their little duo.

Rose Weasley was not.

It wasn't that she no longer supported her favorite cousin's friendship with the Malfoy heir. Far from it, in fact. No, Rose was unhappy with Scorpius and Al's duo because it was just that: a duo. The pair did everything together and had quickly become inseparable, meaning that Rose very rarely got to spend any time with Al at Hogwarts and she was quite bitter about this.

How was she supposed to spy on Scorpius through Al if she didn't even spend time with Al anymore?!

No, this simply would not do for Rose Weasley. But she had a plan. And it was a good plan. A great plan, in fact. And all it really required was a healthy dose of Gryffindor courage.

Rose Weasley was going to conduct some primary research on Scorpius Malfoy's grades.

* * *

_September_

* * *

Rose waited a month before approaching Scorpius.

Honestly, she could have begun her research on the train right away on the first of September. Because obviously there had been summer homework—summer homework that she was _sure_ she had done a more thorough job on than Scorpius Malfoy. But she thought it might be a bit suspicious if the first thing she did was go up to the aforementioned Malfoy and demand to know if he'd completed all of his essays.

So she waited her month. And it was a very well-spent month, observing Malfoy and Al from afar, plotting the best time, place, and way to finally make her move. There was no possible way that anything could go wrong.

And so Rose found herself in the library (not something very out of the ordinary for her) on Thursday the twenty-seventh of September after dinner (because the Slytherin Quidditch team practiced in the morning on Thursdays), peaking around a bookshelf at the table where Al and Malfoy were doing their homework. Well, Malfoy was definitely doing homework; Al looked like he was just about ready to fall asleep on his blank piece of parchment. This was the perfect time to make her move…

_Bang!_

Al jerked awake when Rose slammed her Potions textbook on the table beside where he'd been resting his head.

"Hey Al," Rose began swiftly before Al could say anything, blatantly ignoring Scorpius as she did so. "Did you do that Potions essay yet?"

Al merely looked at her blankly, definitely dazed from the rude awakening he'd received courtesy of his cousin.

"That's a 'no' then?" She asked with a sigh when he didn't respond, choosing to merely look at her as if she had lost her mind which she, in turn, chose to ignore. "That's too bad. I know it's your favorite subject, and I was really hoping you could help me with something…"

"I've already done it," A quiet voice spoke up from her left. At the sound of it, Rose smiled victoriously, but quickly schooled her features into a blank expression as she turned to her number one rival.

"What didn't you understand?" Scorpius continued.

Rose flinched slightly at his wording. Not _understand_? Did he _know_ who he was talking to? Rose Weasley didn't 'not understand' things! And yes, she was conveniently overlooking the fact that she had come over to their table on the pretense of asking for help. Boys were just stupid, that's what was going on here.

"It was more of a clarification question," Rose informed him slowly, not meeting his gaze as she spoke to him and instead glancing over what work he had spread out before him. "I was just trying to figure out if powdered or fresh root of asphodel would be more effective in the potion we were working on today."

"Well…fresh," Scorpius told her in a tone that clearly said he thought this should have been obvious to her. "It's more potent that way."

"Hmm…" Rose said thoughtfully, definitely not impressed with his tone. "I suppose that makes some sense. Well, what about…"

The questions continued like this for some time, with Rose eventually sliding into the empty seat beside Albus, who eventually woke up enough to contribute a bit to the conversation. He even did some of his homework alongside Rose, who had actually brought her entire school bag with her, and not just the one textbook.

"Would you look at the time?" Rose said suddenly, more than an hour later, glancing at her watch and standing up. "The library will be closing soon. I should really be getting back to Gryffindor before curfew. Goodnight Al, Malfoy."

"'Night, Rosie," Al said through a yawn, sitting back in his chair and stretching.

"Later, Weasley Comma Rose," Scorpius chimed in.

Rose paused in gathering all of her things together long enough to glare at the nickname Scorpius had come up with while staying with the extended Weasley family over the summer holiday. He knew she hated when he called her that…

But she couldn't retaliate. Not yet, anyway. It was just a bit too soon for that; she hadn't fully inserted herself into their lives yet. This reminded her…

"I'll see you same time next week," She said, and then in a swirl of curly ginger hair she was gone.

* * *

_October_

* * *

True to her word, Rose returned to the library the following Thursday after dinner—well, really she was there every day, multiple time throughout the day, but on Thursday she casually made her way over to Scorpius and Al's table after they'd been working for a bit. And she continued to do so for the rest of the month. She thought her plan to ease herself into their friendship as a way to keep an eye on Malfoy's grades was going quite splendidly, if she did say so herself.

Scorpius and Al, on the other hand, could not figure out, for the life of them, what was going on.

"It's been a month, Al," Scorpius informed his friend on the last Saturday of October. They were currently walking towards the library—against Al's wishes, as there were several things he felt they could be doing while most of the castle's occupants were down at the village which would be much more fun. Alas, Scorpius had overruled him, and Al was still trying to figure out how.

Correction: Al was now trying to figure out what Scorpius was talking about, as the blonde had spoken as if they'd been in the middle of a conversation, which they most definitely had not been.

"Er…what?" Al asked.

"It's been a month," Scorpius repeated.

"A month since what?" Al questioned.

"Since your cousin decided we had a standing weekly homework date," Scorpius replied. "And I still haven't figured out why."

"Because she's Rose," Al offered, "And she likes doing weird things like completing her homework above and beyond the best of her ability in a more than timely manner. Huh…kinda like you."

"You could have fooled me," Scorpius muttered, just as they reached the library. "All she ever seems to do is pick fights with me."

"Yes, well, don't look now," Al said upon entering the spacious room, "But it would appear that Rose is currently in her natural habitat. Do try to keep things civil; I happen to like it when my family doesn't hate me."

Scorpius merely frowned in response because Rose chose that moment to look up from the essay she had been working on at her nearby table and happened to catch sight of them. She immediately waved them over and Scorpius let out a groan when Al decided that he wanted nothing more than to go talk to his cousin.

"Hi Al," Rose greeted him as soon as he reached her table, Scorpius trailing behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Homework," Al said with a pained sigh. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "This one insists Saturday is the best day to do it so that we have all of Sunday free. I'm really hoping that with prolonged exposure I'll be able to turn him over to the dark side where procrastination is basically our religion."

"Well I'm impressed," Rose said, turning her attention to Scorpius now. "I always thought it took a certain amount of dedication to interest Al in anything that wasn't Quidditch."

"I've never had any problems with that," Scorpius informed her. "It must just be you."

Rose pursed her lips in a frown and Al sighed. He knew what was coming next.

"Or it could just be that you're just as mindlessly dull as him and that's why you two have no problem finding things to occupy your free time," She retorted.

"And on that note," Al said pointedly, grabbing on to Scorpius' arm and yanking him back the way they had just come from. "I think we'll be leaving now. Have a lovely day, Rosie."

"My name is Rose," Al heard her grumble just before he succeeded in dragging Scorpius out of the library and closing the door firmly behind them.

"Some people dream of a world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned," Al told Scorpius, "But I dream of a world where you and Rosie can be in the same room together for more than five minutes without snapping at each other."

"Who was questioning the motives of chickens?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

"So not the point here," Al said with a wave of his hand. "Why do you always have to pick fights with her?"

"Gut instinct," Scorpius replied. "I'm a Malfoy, she's a Weasley. We have an inherent hatred for each other."

"I'm part-Weasley. You don't hate me," Al reminded him. "And what happened to our pact? You can't just go hating my cousin!"

"Our pact had nothing to do with breaking longstanding family traditions," Scorpius protested.

"Yes it _did_," Al retorted. "What's the point in us being best friends—as per our pact, might I remind you—if it wasn't going against everything everyone expected from us based on our family history?"

"That still doesn't mean I have to get along with _all_ of your cousins," Scorpius said. "I'd say eight of nine isn't bad at all; ten out of eleven if we count your siblings."

Al merely sighed.

"Look, just…I don't know…don't let things get so far that you actually want to kill each other, alright? If she's stuck around for a month, even with your constant bickering, I think that means she's here to stay. I guess I don't care if you two don't get along, but don't get me stuck in the middle of anything, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Scorpius said, giving Al a mocking salute.

"Excellent," Al replied. "Now, since we've been forcibly evicted from the library, I do believe a visit to the kitchens is in order."

* * *

_November_

* * *

Rose thought her plan had progressed splendidly since she had enacted it. And, although Malfoy still insisted on making utterly stupid and sometimes rude comments that he seemed to think were perfectly acceptable, there hadn't been any problems with her joining Al and Malfoy once a week for study time.

But that did not mean all was well in the world of Rose Weasley. Most definitely not. Because on the night of the second Thursday of November, she made a tragically life-altering discovery.

Scorpius Malfoy had scored two points higher than her on their latest Defense Against the Dark Arts essay.

This particular day in question had begun normally enough. Rose had gone down to breakfast with her dorm mates, eagerly anticipating the things she would learn in her classes that day. And classes had been just as interesting as she had hoped they would be. But by far the best part of the day was her DADA class just before lunch, when she had finally gotten back the essay that had been assigned for the summer holiday—the fact that it had taken so long to be returned had been a source of anxiety for Rose since at least the second day of classes way back in September. Rose had been beyond happy to see that she had gotten one hundred and ten points out of one hundred—one point extra for each extra inch she'd written beyond the requirement.

But her happiness had been ruined when she made her weekly trip to the library with the sole purpose of studying with Al and Scorpius.

Because that was when she discovered that Malfoy had scored two points higher than her. This meant that he had written two inches more than her. And they had equally tiny handwriting. What, in the name of Merlin, kind of information could he have found on the assigned topic that she hadn't been able to that had allowed him to write an entire _TWO INCHES_ more than her?

Needless to say, Rose was not pleased.

And this led her to a new realization. She was not spying on Malfoy's academic progress nearly as much as she needed to. Clearly she needed to step up her game and there were only about five weeks left in the term before the Christmas holidays, so this would require some careful planning on Rose's part.

Obviously the first step would be to increase her study time with Malfoy. Mondays would do nicely for that; she usually saw him in the library on that day. The difficult thing in all of this would be that Al didn't always come with Malfoy to study and do homework. What Rose really needed to focus on was truly cementing herself into her cousin's unlikely friendship with the Malfoy heir.

This led her to step two. She had the perfect plan…

* * *

_December_

* * *

**26 December 2018**

**Al,**

**Happy Christmas! Thanks for the WWW stuff; it's all brilliant. I might just test some of it out on Grandfather later.**

**There's something important I need to ask you though: Do you know why your cousin sent me a Christmas present? I was rather under the impression that Weasley Comma Rose and I hated each other. And I was definitely not aware that people who hate each other exchange gifts.**

**It very clearly has my name written on it, so it wasn't sent to me by mistake. Do me a favor and find out why she sent it, would you? After seeing her name on the tag, I refused to touch it as I'm suspicious of what it might contain; it's hidden in my room for now so my mum and dad won't notice I haven't opened it.**

**Write back as soon as you can.**

**Scorpius.**

27 December 2018

Scorpius,

I subtly brought you up in conversation with Rose last night. "Subtly" here means "I cornered Rose at our Gran's house and came right out and asked her why she sent you a Christmas present."

Her response: "I saw it and thought he would like it. Why? Did he tell you he absolutely hated it? I guess it could always be returned or exchanged, even."

So there you have it. My dear Rosie saw something, thought of you immediately, and, in the spirit of Christmas, got over her supposed hatred for you and bought it for you. And _you_ thought she wasn't capable of being nice to you…

Do you know what this means? You have to keep it, whatever 'it' is. Rose bought you something out of the very goodness of her heart and you've hidden it away expecting the worst from her. Returning it would just be rude at this point. And I bet you anything she'll just know instinctively if you ignore it any longer. And don't even get me started on what she'll be like if you haven't opened it by the time we all go back to school after the New Year.

So go on…open it…

—Al

P.S.—Uncle George would be particularly interested to know just how your grandfather likes his products. After all, customer satisfaction is his number one priority.

* * *

_January_

* * *

"Do you think he liked it? What if he didn't like it? What if he hated it? What if he didn't? What if—"

"If you don't stop talking and remember to _breathe_, you aren't going to live long enough to find out the answer to any of those questions."

As per their tradition since their first year (much to the chagrin of the rest of their cousins and siblings) Rose and Al were currently seated in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express all by themselves waiting for Scorpius to arrive. Much like she had been doing ever since Al had approached her shortly after Christmas to ask why she had gotten Malfoy a gift, Rose was currently worrying about the blonde Slytherin's reaction to said gift.

"Why are you worrying so much anyway?" Al asked curiously. "I feel like telling you to calm down has been my mantra ever since Christmas."

"I just really want him to like it," Rose told him. "I…well, I want us to be friends."

"Wait…we're still talking about you and Scorpius, right?" Al clarified. "My two best friends who can't stand each other?"

"I feel like saying we 'can't stand' each other is wording it a bit strongly," Rose informed him.

"Whenever you two are together all you do is fight," Al felt the need to point out. "Constantly."

"That doesn't mean we can't stand each other," Rose stated. "It just means that we happen to have a strong inclination to debate with each other on a broad range of subjects."

"Or that you hate each other," Al said.

"That's rubbish," Rose informed her cousin. "I don't hate Malfoy."

"Well he seems to think you do," Al replied. "So good luck changing his mind on that one."

Malfoy thought Rose hated him? Did that mean he hated her in return? This was not good news at all. And she had thought that a Christmas gift was the perfect way to get on his good side…

Rose was interrupted from her thoughts by the arrival of none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

"Hey Al, Weasley," He said, taking the seat beside Al.

"Hello Mal—_what_ did you just call me?" Rose demanded, cutting herself off mid-sentence.

"Oh, I…er…Weasley?" Malfoy offered.

"Why?" Rose continued suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him, while he looked decidedly uncomfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Al roll his own eyes, but chose to dismiss the fact that he obviously thought she was being ridiculous, or some other such nonsense.

"Well it's your name…" Malfoy said.

"But you never call me just 'Weasley,'" Rose said, her eyes narrowing further. "It's always 'Weasley Comma Rose' or sometimes even 'Weaslette' but never my actual, proper name."

"Ah…well…" Malfoy stalled and Rose thought he seemed rather uncomfortable. That was certainly an odd reaction in the presence of someone he supposedly hated. "I…well, I actually wanted to thank you for the book. And…er…after you went to the trouble of getting me something…well…I thought maybe…maybe I shouldn't call you a name you don't actually like."

Rose opened her mouth to say something…anything, but her dear cousin beat her to it.

"Wait just a minute!" Al said loudly. "All of the worrying I had to put up with from both of you was all over a _book_? You two are ridiculous!"

Rose let out a sigh and rolled her eyes at her cousin's reaction. "Oh Al…"

But as the train began moving and Al and Malfoy began talking about Malfoy's grandfather, for whatever bizarre reason, Rose couldn't help but focus on Malfoy's reaction to her gift. If he had hated her before, clearly he didn't any longer. This was an excellent development.

* * *

_March_

* * *

"Are you ready to go?"

"Go where?"

Scorpius sighed, allowing his schoolbag to slip from his shoulder and onto the floor beside him as he stood over Al, who was lying down on a couch in the Slytherin Common Room. "Al, it's Wednesday. Weasley is probably waiting for us in the library by now."

"I thought we only studied with her on Thursdays," Al replied, confusion lacing his voice.

"So did I," Scorpius replied dryly. "Then she started showing up wherever we were studying on Mondays, too. And then it was Wednesdays not too long after that. I wouldn't be surprised if we were studying with her every day of the week by the time we reach summer."

"Huh," Al said. "I really hadn't noticed. No matter, anyway. I can't go to the library with you tonight, mate. Well, I suppose I might see you there. And, if I was feeling nice tonight, I would at least walk there with you and stay for the little bit that I could, but that would involve giving up on procrastinating working on my Charms."

"Okay," Scorpius said slowly, "Nowhere in there did I actually hear a reason why you weren't coming to the library tonight."

"Well I am going to the library tonight," Al informed him. "Didn't I mention that?"

"Honestly, sometimes you just ramble on so much I tend to tune you out," Scorpius admitted.

"That's incredibly rude, you know," Al replied. "Now I'm glad I have to meet up with my group for that Herbology project tonight if it means I'm not going to have to put up with your rudeness for a little while."

"You also have a tendency to be overly melodramatic," Scorpius observed. "But you're really not coming with me to the library?"

"Feeling a bit clingy tonight?" Al asked, smirking up at him.

"Not a chance," Scorpius replied, "I just don't fancy spending an extended amount of time alone with your cousin is all."

"Oh, that's right…Rose…Wednesday…studying…I was paying attention before," Al said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Don't be such a wimp, Scorp. You'll be fine alone with Rose. Actually, you'll probably be more than fine. The two of you have been getting along a lot better lately. You're ridiculously competitive with each other, but at least you haven't been pulling your wands on each other with every other word you speak anymore. You know, if it was anyone but the two of you, I'd say you were even becoming friends."

Scorpius frowned. Him? Friends? With Rose Weasley? He could honestly say the thought had never before crossed his mind. In fact, it was too weird of an idea to even contemplate.

"I need to go get my homework done," Scorpius said with a shake of his head, turning and beginning to make his way out of the dungeons.

They might be occasional study partners, but Scorpius couldn't see himself ever becoming _friends_ with Rose Weasley.

* * *

_June_

* * *

The time had finally arrived. Rose had been waiting for this day for months and it was finally here. Today was the last day of term and the Hogwarts Express was due to leave any minute now.

Final exams were long over and grades had been distributed that morning. In the last-minute rush of goodbyes and making sure everything was packed away for the journey home, she had been unable to discover the results of her year-long research project. But this, right now, was going to be her moment. Today she would finally discover if all of her hard work had paid off.

Had she, Rose Weasley, beaten Scorpius Malfoy in all of their classes?

But, even after how long it had taken to get to this point, Rose knew she couldn't seem _too_ eager to find out how Scorpius had done in his classes. Their friendship was still a bit tenuous, after all. It was best to attempt to actually have some kind of meaningful conversation first. Hmm…and maybe it would be a good idea to begin by asking _Al_ about his grades, so that Scorpius wouldn't become suspicious. Yes, that would be a good idea…

It turned out that all of her careful planning of how to approach this particular topic of conversation was all for naught, however, as Al brought it up first.

"You have no idea how glad I am that summer is finally here," Al said, collapsing onto the bench beside Rose just as the train started moving with a slight lurch. Up until that point, it had been Rose and Scorpius sharing the compartment in an uncomfortable silence, while Al had gone to tell James…something, Rose wasn't entirely sure what, because she hadn't really been paying attention to what Al was saying. She had been too busy plotting her plan of attack.

"I think we might," Scorpius replied. "Because I have a feeling we're both just as glad."

"Don't go including Rosie in that statement with you," Al said with a grin. "I'm pretty sure summer is her least favorite time of year: she doesn't have any classes to go to."

"I have plenty of other things to occupy my time with," Rose informed her cousin with a roll of her eyes. "For example, I can't wait to get started on all of my summer homework."

"We haven't even gotten all the way home from school and you're already set to get started on _more_ schoolwork?" Al demanded incredulously. "It's times like these when I really begin to doubt whether or not we're actually related."

"Well _someone_ needs to care about school," Rose retorted.

"Scorpius cares about school," Al pointed out. "And you don't see him getting all excited about his free time for the next two months being interrupted by a bunch of boring essays, do you?"

"Actually," Scorpius interrupted, causing both Al and Rose to whip their heads in his direction. "While we're on the topic of school, I really think I'm going to have to spend a lot of time on my Charms homework this summer. I already got approval for an extra credit project, in fact."

Both Rose and Al narrowed their eyes suspiciously, but it was Al who voiced what they were both thinking—albeit for very different reasons.

"Why would you want to do an extra credit project on top of the work that was already assigned?" Al demanded, sounding appalled.

"It was that final test," Scorpius said, shaking his head. "I just didn't do as well on it as I could have."

"You told me when grades were handed out that you passed all of your tests," Al reminded him, while Rose attempted to keep a triumphant grin from breaking out across her face and instead look like a sympathetic friend.

"Well, yeah, of course I _passed_ them," Scorpius said, sounding affronted. "But a ninety-two percent isn't exactly ideal, is it? Obviously there was something we learned this year that I didn't understand as well as I should."

At this, Rose really had to fight to keep her composure. A ninety-two? This was brilliant! She'd gotten a hundred twenty-five percent on Charms.

"Because a ninety-two is _so_ awful," Al said sarcastically.

"It is when I _was_ averaging one hundred and five percent on all of our previous exams," Scorpius said with a frown.

"How did the rest of your classes go?" Rose chose to ask then, still fighting to retain her sympathetic expression.

"Oh, they were fine," Scorpius said with a shrug. "Apparently I'm second in our year."

At this news, Rose really couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.

"I suppose that means you're the one with the highest grades in our year, then?" Al asked her sardonically, though his expression was calculating.

"Well…yes," Rose said simply.

"Hmm…" Was all Al said in reply, then, "Well, that's enough talk about school for me. Have I already mentioned how glad I am that it's finally summer? So what's everyone doing over the holidays? We've probably already talked about it, but I'm pretty sure all the studying I've been doing lately has made me forget everything else I've ever known. You're coming to visit again, right, Scorp?"

As the conversation devolved into a discussion about the summer holidays, a giddy feeling arose within Rose. She hadn't let herself believe what Professor Longbottom had told her just this morning until she had gotten confirmation from Scorpius himself. She had done it. She had beaten him. And with that happy thought in mind, she allowed herself to be swept up in the discussion of summer.

But it wasn't until several hours later that she realized just how successful she had been…

Rose, Al, and Scorpius had just dragged their things off of the train and were scanning the crowd for their respective parents when a loud shout of "Scorpius!" sounded from behind them. As one, the trio turned to see who had spoken, and Rose was surprised to see a beaming, dark-haired woman standing there, her arms held open as if waiting to receive a hug.

"Mum…" Scorpius groaned, his pale cheeks turning slightly pink.

Rose's eyebrows rose in surprise. This was Scorpius' mother? She just seemed so…cheerful and carefree. And Scorpius was always so…serious. In the months she'd been studying with them, she'd seen him open up more around Al, but it was still quite rare. This woman currently engulfing him in a hug despite his weak protests was really his mother?

"And Albus!" Mrs. Malfoy exclaimed once she had released her son, only to give Rose's cousin a hug of his own, which he readily accepted. "Sorry, I meant 'Just Al.' How was your year, boys?"

"Good," Al answered cheerfully, just as Scorpius was opening his mouth to reply. "I only got Scorp into trouble three times."

"And when are you coming to visit me—I mean, my son?" Mrs. Malfoy continued, a twinkle in her eyes.

"The first week of August, I think," Al told her thoughtfully, "I can't see mum even thinking about letting me out of her sight until at least after dad's birthday."

Mrs. Malfoy opened her mouth o say something else, but at just that moment, her gaze landed on Rose, whom she had apparently not noticed until that moment.

"Oh! And who is this? I didn't see you there, dear," Mrs. Malfoy said pleasantly.

"This is my friend, Rose Weasley," Scorpius jumped in quickly. "She's one of Al's cousins."

"Well it's lovely to meet you Rose Weasley, cousin of Al," Mrs. Malfoy said, holding out a hand for Rose to shake.

Rose, for her part, simply stared at the woman for a moment. She had a feeling she was probably wearing a shocked expression right now, and forced herself to snap out of it and accept the hand she'd been offered.

"It's nice to meet you, too, ma'am," Rose said politely.

"You're more than welcome to come visit anytime you like, too, dear," Mrs. Malfoy informed Rose brightly. "I'd hate to keep Scor away from his friends during the summer."

"Oh…er…well, thank you," Rose said uncertainly. Was this real life?

"Oh dear, would you look at the time?" Mrs. Malfoy said suddenly. "Scorpius, we should really be going; I promised your grandparents we'd stop by for tea on our way home. Your father should be meeting us there as long as he's taken care of the emergency he got called into work for. Rose, again, it was lovely to meet you. And Al, I'm sure we'll be hearing from you very soon."

And without another word, she waved her wand at Scorpius' things, which disappeared, before holding her arm out to her son and disapparating with him, giving a small wave to both Rose and Al as she did so.

"Did that really just happen?" Al said suddenly.

Well that answered Rose's question then. If two people couldn't believe what they'd just experienced, then it must have been real…right?

"Is she always so…friendly?" Rose asked slowly, her gaze still locked on the place Scorpius and his mother had just been standing.

"Of course she is," Al replied. "That's not what I was talking about. I was actually referring to the part where Scorpius called _you_ his _friend_."

Rose frowned slightly. "Huh. He did, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Al said, "And just a few months ago he basically assured me that that exact thing happening was all sorts of impossible."

"Well, I suppose we've been getting along better lately," Rose replied, finally turning to face her cousin. "Haven't you noticed that we actually call each other by our given names now?"

"Yeah," Now it was Al's turn to frown, "It completely weirded me out the first time it happened."

"Anyway," Rose straightened up suddenly, "If Scorpius said the two of us are friends than it must be true. Now, where are our parents? I can't wait to tell mum all about my grades!"

"Hold up just a minute," Al said, reaching a hand out to grab Rose's arm as she made to walk into the crowd in search of her family. "There's actually something I've been meaning to ask you for a while, but I've never gotten you alone, so I should really just get it out now before we go find our parents."

"What is it?" Rose asked, her brows drawn together in confusion. What could he possibly have to ask her that he didn't want to say in front of anyone else they knew?

"It's not that I don't love spending time with you," Al began carefully, letting his hand drop from Rose's arm as he spoke. "Because I really do; you're my favorite cousin after all. It's just…you started spending a lot of time with me and Scorpius this year and it got me thinking…you weren't like…I don't know…spying on him or anything, were you?"

Rose forced herself to appear unruffled as she replied, "Why on Earth would I need to spy on Scorpius?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you've been obsessed with beating him in all of our subjects since Uncle Ron put the idea into your head our very first day at Hogwarts," Al replied sarcastically. "In fact, I do believe that was part of the reason you gave your support for my friendship with him last year."

"Okay," Rose admitted slowly, "So maybe I was a _bit_ over-zealous about some particular academic achievements in the past, but you just heard it from Scorpius himself: we're _friends_."

"You definitely didn't start out that way," Al reminded her. "And you definitely haven't stopped arguing with each other, even if you _can_ remain in each other's presence a lot longer now than you used to be able to."

"Did it ever occur to you that _maybe_ I started spending time with the two of you because you and Scorpius always seem to be together and I just wanted to spend some quality time with _my_ favorite cousin?" Rose asked him.

"Oh," Al said sheepishly.

"It's alright," Rose said with a shrug. _Phew, crisis averted_, she couldn't help but think. "It's hard when we're in two different houses anyway. We just had to find a way to make it work. Now, I see a lot of ginger hair over there," she pointed to the other end of the platform, "I think I've found where the family has chosen to congregate. C'mon, let's get over there before one of our dad's decides to send out a search party for us."

"Yes, ma'am," Al said, mock saluting her, before reaching down to grab the handle of his trunk in order to drag it behind him.

A smile flitted across Rose's face as she followed him. She'd beaten Scorpius in all of their classes and she'd successfully befriended him. That wasn't too bad for a good year's work. Her fleeting smile turned into a full-blown grin. No, it wasn't bad work at all.

In fact…Mission: Accomplished.


End file.
